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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 6, 2024 15:04:20 GMT -5
                      Malibu begins their Bravura imprint, which I preferred to most of the Ultraverse. I wanted to like Breed, but it was just okay. Didn't grab me as much as Metamorphosis Odyssey/Dreadstar. Had a kind of sameness feel to it. Firearm #0 came with a videotape, with a short Firearm movie, conceived by James Robinson, who had originally tried to break in as a screenwriter, before turning to comics. It was decent, geenric cop action film stuff. The regular comic was better, as it had more of a hook, with his dealing with super powered villains. Robinson also finished up Grendel Tales: Four Devils, One Hell, which was terrifice. Thos Grendel Tales minis were some great comics. We had gotten Love & Rockets on our newsstand, at Barnes & Noble, so I finally got to see an issue. I started buying it, up to the end, before getting a couple of the trades, then the Locas omnibus. It was the wrestling element to Maggie's story (Chester Square) that hooked me. Jaime drew the action well, plus the characters were fun and there was a nice mix of humor and drama, plus real life. I was more than a bit lost as to who was who and what their relationships were; but, I could figure out enough to enjoy. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 6, 2024 18:58:33 GMT -5
                      War Dancer was the only title I picked up from Defiant and only a couple of issues. They had me at Alan Weiss, then, it underwhelmed. Danger Unlimited is John Byrne doing an FF pastiche, despite slagging off Image for doing reworkings of X-Men (like his Next Men book....hmmmmmmmmm...). Firearm and Strangers continue to be the best of the Ultraverse and there is a new Grendel Tales mini. Not quite in my wheelhouse, compared to War Child or Four Devils, One Hell. Nina Paley's cartoons were favorites, from the Funny Times newspaper and I snapped up her Dark Horse specials. Legends of the World's Finest has Dan Brereton, whose work I had enjoyed since Black Terror, for Eclipse. Dr Weird was old Starlin fanzine material and DHP continues Hermes vs The Eyeball Kid, from Deadface/Bacchus. Power & Glory was new cynical fun from Howard Chaykin and Bravura. Genesis was a reossover between the Malibu non-Ultraverse adventure titles (Protectors, Dinosaurs For Hire). |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Feb 11, 2024 11:13:25 GMT -5
2099 Unlimited #4
Catalyst:Agents of Change #1
Danger Unlimited #1
Dr. Weird Special #1
Firearm #5
Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #12
Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #13
Marvel Comics Presents #150
Night Man #5
Quasar #57
Rune #1
Strangers #8
Strangers #9
Thing from Another World: Eternal Vows #3
Valor #18
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Post by chaykinstevens on Mar 1, 2024 17:32:45 GMT -5
Firearm #6
Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #14
Incredible Hulk #417
Legionnaires #14
Night Man #6
Nomad #25
Power & Glory #2
Punisher #89
Quasar #58
Rogan Gosh #1
Strangers #10
War Dancer #2
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 2, 2024 21:29:20 GMT -5
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 1, 2024 22:48:05 GMT -5
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Post by codystarbuck on May 2, 2024 14:45:11 GMT -5
                      Dark Horse was getting the lion's share of my money, with Malibu (or, rather, Bravura) getting a lot of the rest. I have no idea why I stuck it out to the end, with Scarab, as I didn't find it that compelling then. The concept sounded far better than the actual story. I do have to Laugh at the cover of Martha Washington Goes to War and wonder how many of these artists who draw soldiers carrying all this gear have ever had to carry stuff like that, for more than a few feet. Even just camping or hiking, That weapon would be heavier than crap and the ammo would weigh even more; plus, that thing strapped to her back had to be 40-50 lbs, easily. An M-16 got heavy enough, after you've carried it for 5 miles, with no ammo. And we only carried two canteens of water on our belts, plus the weight of a flak jacket. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 1, 2024 16:38:09 GMT -5
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Post by driver1980 on Jun 6, 2024 8:24:28 GMT -5
Here’s a great Brian Bolland cover (on sale 30 years ago today):  |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 2, 2024 22:42:17 GMT -5
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Aug 1, 2024 11:49:58 GMT -5
Probably bought in August 1994, although it might have been on the shelves for a while when I bought it a little later.
Hellblazer #82 : One of the rare American comics I bought in Germany (those things were *expensive!!!*), this issue is almost the climax to Garth Ennis' and Steve Dillon's final arc with the character. Hellblazer was one of my three favourite books at the time, so I was eager to see what had happened since I last read it (over a year before). AUGH!!! John and Kit aren't together anymore and are saying their final goodbyes? The devil managed to circumvent John's strategy to save his soul? I had to read the following issue!!! (but that would take a while. I would find issues 84 and 86 in the following months, but that's all).
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Post by chaykinstevens on Aug 1, 2024 15:51:02 GMT -5
Clandestine #1
Dark Horse Down Under #2
Enemy #4
Green Lantern Annual #3
Hellstorm:Prince of Lies #19
Instant Piano #1
Invisibles #1
Night Man #11
Radical Dreamer #2
Starman #0
White Like She #4
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 1, 2024 15:54:54 GMT -5
                           Pretty clear that Dark Horse was winning the battle for my hard-earned money. DHP had Mignola writing and drawing Hellboy, after Byrne scripted the first storyline and Wolves of St August is one of my favorite stories, and has one of my favorite images, of the little girl werewolf. Instant Piano is a new anthology humor title, featuring work from Kyle Baker, Stephen Destefano, Robbie Busch, Mark Badger and Evan Dorkin, with his "The Eltingville Comic Book, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horro and Role-Playing Club," which was later adapted into a pilot, for Adult Swim.... The comic didn't last long, but it was a favorite of mine. Shadow Empires: Faith Conquers is the early name for what became Iron Empires, from Christopher Moeller. We had "The Passage," in DHP and now we got this mini, with another warrior of the Empire, on a frontier planet, where parasitic aliens are invading, but corruption within the Empire undermines its defense. Great militay sci-fi, with religious and politcal angles, as well as more than a little horror. The basic concept, though, was swiped from the Warhammer 40,000 series. Byrne's Next Men was a pale shadow of its former self, as he had run out of steam and I was buying morre out of habit than enjoyment, though it was serviceable. Martha Washington and Aliens vs Predator continue. Archie's Super Teens reprinted the Archie superhero stories from Life With Archie and other comics, with Archie as Pureheart, Betty as Super-Teen, and Jughead as Captain Hero, with Reggie as Evilheart and Veronica finally getting a super identity, in the last issue, in a new story. Grant Morrison began The Invisibles, which sounded intriguing, at first, but I bailed on within 6 issues. I did a lot of reading on conspiracy theories in this time frame; but, preferred a Robert Ludlum conspiracy to this stuff. I didn't smoke weed or consume mushrooms to make sense of things and even Robert Anton Wilson wasn't my cup of tea, try as I might to read the Illuminatus Trilogy. Time Masters was a hell of a lot more entertaining, for my money. The big book, though, was Starman. As far as I am concerned, it is the greatest comic series to come out of the 90s. In 1994, James Robinson could do no wrong, in comics. Firearm was one of the very few Ultraverse books I read, after the first couple of issues, Grendel Tales was awesome, 67 Seconds was a great thriller, Illegal Alien was intriguing, I even like The Witches, which I had been skeptical about. After Archie Goodwin died, it's a different story, though, as something seemed to happen to Robinson, from then on. At first, it might have been grief, but it seemed to grow worse, as time passed. His forays into Hollywood didn't help. I skipped most of the Zero issues, but bought the main mini segment, which just ticked me off, with the treatment of the JSA and the attempt to salvage Armageddon 2000 (and failure to do so). Not a single Marvel and DC wasn't getting too many dollars from me, except for mostly short term projects. After a whiles, Starman was about the only regular series I was getting. Towards the end of my regular colelcting, it was Starman, Hellboy and Astro City, then XIII and Valerian albums. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Sept 2, 2024 12:56:38 GMT -5
September 1994! I had been living in Germany for a year and a half by then, and since American comics cost a tremendous amount of money, I had been forced to stop my regular purchases. I succumbed to the siren song late that summer, though, and had bought a few titles the preceding month, and (as I recall) would find two Hellblazer comics during that autumn.
In September, I got
Conan the adventurer #6. My first Conan comics in more than 18 months... and I was crestfallen! Apparently Conan the barbarian had been cancelled during the previous year and been replaced by a reboot, restting the clock during Conan's youth! Just as I thought the original comic had found its way again, and was about to finally tell us about Conan's time as a Kozak!
Plus, I wasn’t a fan of this issue's artist, John Watkiss. That would come to change in later years when I bought back issues, and I learned to really enjoy Watkiss's work, which I enjoyed more than that of Conan the adventurer's regular artist. But at that specific moment, I felt betrayed! How could Marvel pull the carpet from under the feet of long-time fans who had given the book a chance for so long?
Legion of super-heroes #62. Copy-paste what I just wrote about Conan, replace “Marvel” by “DC”, and you’ll understand how I felt! *Another* reboot of a favourite of mine? Another resetting of the clock? That would be enough to make me forswear Marvel and DC forever and stick to German versions of Hal Foster’s work!
I would eventually come to enjoy this Legion reboot, and I must admit that the "Adult" Legion of the 5YL had kind of painted itself into a corner... a dark, gloomy and depressing corner... but it still had so many interesting plot lines to resolve! Ah, well... That era taught me never again to get emotionally invested in ongoing made-up stories; thatMs what old tales, with an ending already in the box, are for. It's less frustrating that way.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 2, 2024 20:41:01 GMT -5
                     I have totally been glossing over the Bongo offerings, for the past few months. I got in on the ground floor, with The Simpsons Comics, Bartman, and Radioactive Man. I especially loved the period spoofs, in Radioactive man, particularly the Green Lantern/Green Arrow satire, with the Purple Heart becoming The Bleeding Heart, and The Black Partridge, dressed in a version of the Partridge Family stage costume. That plus the little visual riff on Neal Adams and Steranko sending messages in their energy stylings. Those were some good comics. Tv show used to be funny, then, too. Manhunter's issue number matches my rating of it. |
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